The present invention relates to a package for containing items, such as doses of medicine, that can be dispensed therefrom, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a package including a blister card that has child-resistant dispensing properties and to a method of making a carded blister.
An example of a carded blister package is disclosed by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0178949 A1 of Reilley et al. which is assigned to Anderson Packaging, Inc., the assignee of the present application. The package includes a blister card having blister compartments in which tablets are located and retained therein via a thin foil backing layer. The blister card is retained within several layers of paperboard heat sealed together to form the carded package and to provide a requisite amount of child resistance.
By way of example, one embodiment of a carded package disclosed in the above referenced application publication includes a top paperboard layer through which the blister compartments extend and three oppositely located heat sealed paperboard layers underlying the foil layer of the blister card. Thus, this particular package has a total of four paperboard layers. Dispensing a tablet from the carded package requires the exertion of a force applied in a downward direction on the blister compartment to force the tablet through the rear face of the carded package. The force must be sufficient to break through the foil layer as well as at least one of the paperboard layers. The paperboard layer may be perforated to define break-away panels, punch outs, or so-called “chads” that require a predetermined amount of force to be applied to the blister compartment for the tablet to successfully break through the paperboard layer and rear face of the package.
The above referenced carded package is particularly useful in consumer packaging applications, for instance, packaging of pharmaceuticals or unit dose pharmaceuticals. Unit dose packaging is useful for certain pharmaceutical applications that require the package to be opened and closed repeatedly until the course of medication is complete. Such a package enables the user to easily track the consumption of doses according to a prescribed schedule. Child resistance is a feature particularly desired for unit dose pharmaceutical packaging in which a preferred package should have a so-called child resistance (CR) rating of F=1 to ensure that the package has sufficient integrity to prevent unwanted access of the medicine by a young child in the event that the young child gains possession of the package.
Although the above referenced carded package disclosed by the above referenced published application may be satisfactory for its intended purpose, there is a need for a carded package of different and novel construction. The carded package should be tear resistant and be unable to be easily torn or bitten or chewed through by a young child to prevent the young child from gaining access to medication stored in the blister compartments. Thus, the carded package should provide a desired amount of child-resistance, such as achieve a F=1 child resistant rating, yet enable tablets to be readily dispensed by an intended end-user, such as a senior citizen. Further, the desired package should be inexpensive to manufacture and capable of being assembled in an efficient process.